Anna VanCleave was a Root-Tilden Scholar during her three years at New York University Law School, in recognition of her commitment to public interest law. Her Master of Arts degree is in English Language and Literature. After graduating from law school, Professor VanCleave spent five years as Staff Attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, including a one-year rotation with the Orleans Public Defenders as part of post-Katrina efforts to restructure indigent defense in New Orleans. Her most recent position, prior to joining the faculty at Tulane, was as trial attorney at the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center. Her teaching experience includes teaching upper-level courses in the English Department at the University of Michigan, teaching legal research and writing in the Prisoners' Rights Education Project in New York, and training attorneys at Juvenile Regional Services in New Orleans.